


Last one standing

by Beatonen



Category: RWBY
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-15
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-10-05 14:44:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10310564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beatonen/pseuds/Beatonen
Summary: While out on a mission, things go south , and Yang is the last one standing.She makes sure her team is safe.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I think I like making Yang suffer.

“Fuck you! Fuck you too!”

Her punches were weakening as the minutes went by, but she didn’t stop. She couldn’t. Every Grimm that charged her was punched right in the face, breaking the masks and came crashing back to the flow of waiting Grimm. They were so many… Yang couldn’t even see the end of it. But she couldn’t back down. Not now. So she stomped her foot, knocking her fists together, and roared at the Grimm, watching as they took the provocation and charged. Punching to her right, grabbing the head of a beowolf to her left, spinning around and throwing it back at the mass of black fur. Her breathing was ragged, the adrenaline fueling her, but she felt like she was losing grasp of what she was fighting for. She killed another wave of Grimm and glanced over her shoulder. She was in front of the entrance of a cave, and inside was her teammates, all unconscious. The last thing standing between them and the angry Grimm was her. She leaned her back on the façade of rock for a second, trying to catch her breath. That’s right, she remembered; wait for back up. They’re coming, just hang on a little longer. She pushed herself to stand again. She couldn’t have the luxury to stop any longer. Because if she stopped, if she gave up and sat there, she wouldn’t be able to stand again. She took a deep breath, knocking her fists together again, and waited for the next charge. Ruby had fainted first, using too much of her semblance from the first fight, and when they were trapped in an ambush, she got knocked out cold. After it was Weiss, she’d used all her Dust, and when a Grimm hit her, she wasn’t fast enough to set a glyph to parry it, and the force of the impact projected her on the rocks, hitting her head. While Blake was covering her, Yang carried both Ruby and Weiss to the cave, and both of them protected it. The faunus had called back up, but the Grimm were relentless. Even for three years students, it was too much; they got bad intel for their mission, and now, they were paying the price. Blake fainted soon after, having used too much her semblance; she threw Gambol Shroud with her remaining strength, killed the Grimm that was charging her and fell face first on the dusty ground. Yang killed the Grimm surrounding her, grabbed her partner by the collar and threw her inside the cave, apologising afterward. Then she turned on her heel to face the pitch black, growling and hissing mass of Grimm. They knew that soon, she would fall, too. The brawler clenched her teeth. Of all team RWBY, she was the one that had more stamina, and by far. The backups were coming; she just had to hang on a little longer. She didn’t know how many times she repeated this in her head or out loud. How much time she fought alone. Just a little longer, she told herself, feeling her legs starting to be numb, the tips of her fingers going cold, senseless, her vision beginning to blurry and her head spinning. She shook it promptly.

“Not now, Death,” she mumbled to herself. “Not now.”

There was an aching in her ribs, but she didn’t care; it just fueled her. Three Grimm jumped on her at the same time, and she jumped on her right, rolling on her shoulder, spinning on her heels to face them. Punching that mask right in front of her, she grabbed a fistful of thick, black fur of the Grimm that was trying to enter the cave. She planted her heels in the ground, pulling the beast with a fierce cry, making it step backward, then with a shot of Ember Celica, hit the mask with her elbow, before kicking it back on the other, tackling them to a three, one of them breaking its spine against it. Yang’s breath was quick, raspy; she was feeling heavy as stone, moving slower, her strikes weakening. She shook her head again, trying to keep her eyes open, stumbling. She had to lean against the rock again, to keep herself steady. They weren’t that much, now, at least a dozen of them, staring, boring at her soul with their burning red eyes. She thought she could hear them laughing; finally, she was about to fall.

“Hang on, Yang,” she told herself. “A Xiao Long never dies that easily. You hear, bastards? I’m not gonna fall from those weak-ass attacks!” She shouted to the remaining Grimm, steadying herself once again.

But this time, instead of growling or hissing, she heard an excited shout as a war-hammer slammed the Grimm’s head in front of her, flat on the ground. A red and gold spear flew right before her eyes, striking another Grimm right in the eye.

“JNPR…” Yang breathed. “They’re here… Finally…”

She stumbled on her feet, the wave of relief washing away the adrenalin that kept her standing, but a pair of arms steadied her, as she slowly fell to her knees. She felt so tired, now. She fought to keep her eyes open, flaming red hair dancing before her eyes before it turned, bright green eyes looking at her, trying to keep an eye contact.

“You fought well, Yang,” Pyrrha said, and a wrinkle of concern appeared between her eyebrows as she looked towards the blonde’s stomach. “Just stay with me, okay? Look at me.”

The crimson-haired woman made Yang lean against her, the blonde’s head in the crook of her shoulder, the arm and knee of the warrior supporting the brawler’s back, the long, tired legs stretched in front of her.

“I’m tired, Pyrrha,” Yang said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“I know, Yang, but don’t fall asleep yet, alright? Jaune! Call an airship!” She shouted over her shoulder. “Okay,” she said softly, her attention returning to the blonde. “Look at me, Yang.”

The blonde barely felt a squeeze on her hand and she blinked slowly, white dots dancing in her vision.

“Pyrrha?”

“Yes, I’m right here, Yang.”

Her voice was soft, and she saw more than she felt the red-head’s grip tightening on her hand.

“I… I can’t feel my legs…”

“Ren!” The warrior immediately yelled over her shoulder.

“Pyrrha, why can’t I feel my legs?” Yang asked, shaking lightly, her vision narrowing slowly.

“It’s okay, sweetie,” Pyrrha said, petting her hair, her eyes filling with tears. “It’s going to be okay, I promise.”

Ren appeared beside her teammate, glanced at Yang while he kneeled and started rummaging in his bag. The blonde groaned weakly when something pressed on the aching on her ribs.

“Look at me, Yang, please look at me, stay with me,” Pyrrha said, cupping the blonde’s cheek, her skin burning on the ice cold flesh of the brawler.

Yang blinked again, slowly, and this time, lifting her eyelids took way more time.

“Jaune!” Pyrrha screamed, panicked.

Ren’s face was unreadable, and he stayed silent, working on the blonde quickly. The red-head sniffled, tears rolling down her cheeks, brushing Yang’s hair out of her face.

“It’s going to be alright, Yang,” she said with a small nod, an encouraging smile on her lips.

Yang tried to smile back, but her face felt numb, and she was too tired to move a single muscle. Her eyes closed slowly, and she fought to keep them open, but she was so tired. She could still hear the panicked screams of Pyrrha, more and more distant.

“Yang? Open your eyes, honey, look at me! Yang! YANG!”

Far away, she heard a rumbling, like a thunderstorm growing louder and louder.

Then, she slipped into darkness.

 

**** 

 

“We still don’t know why that claw didn’t disappear when it was ripped off the Grimm,” the doctor said. “Maybe because it was in contact with her aura, but she’s lucky it didn’t. The internal bleeding was less important, and her aura had the time to seal all the damaged organs temporarily.”

“Is she going to make it?” Ruby asked with a small voice, eyes filled with tears.

The doctor sighed, looking everywhere except for the three young women in front of him.

“We still don’t know, frankly. She’d lost a lot of blood, and we’re not even talking about her overused aura. It still amazes me that she was standing when your companions arrived,” the doctor said, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s a miracle she’s alive and stabilised. We can’t say if she’s going to make it. I’m sorry.”

Ruby lowered her head, a sob escaping her lips. Blake wrapped an arm around her shoulders, Weiss squaring her shoulders.

“Thank you, sir,” she said quietly.

He nodded and walked out in the hallway. They were alone, once again, in the most spacious hospital room, thanks to Weiss. The three of them were sitting beside Yang’s bed, Blake and Ruby on the right side and Weiss on the left. The heiress looked up tiredly to the blonde. It had been two hours since they had all woken up in the adjacent room. They were all safe and sound, except for minor injuries, thanks to Yang’s tenacity. Pyrrha had been watching over the blonde while they were unconscious, and she told them in what state Yang was when her team arrived at the cave.

“I couldn’t even feel her aura and she was crawled in my arms,” Pyrrha had said, her voice shaking. “She was covered in blood, the claw sticking out, but she was still fighting to protect you, guys. She’s strong. She’s going to come back, I’m sure of it,” she said confidently, squeezing their hands.

As soon as they entered the room, Ruby started crying. Yang was so pale, so silent, so cold… She held her sister’s hand like it was an anchor, and cried until the doctor entered the room. Blake wanted to cry too, but she couldn’t. She had to stay strong, she had faith in her partner. Amber eyes trailed off to Weiss, who was staring at Yang with an unreadable face. To Weiss, Yang was the personalisation of power. She was so strong, it was unbelievable to the heiress’s mind that Yang _could_ die. Blake watched in awe as Weiss’s small hand reached to hold the blonde’s larger hand, squeezing lightly.

Up to this day, they tried to never leave Yang alone. Ruby was there almost all the time she didn’t spent in class, doing her homework at the bedside table. Blake, when she weren’t in class, she was training; she couldn’t let that happen again. Weiss knew the faunus felt guilty, well, partly. Team JNPR and SSSN sometimes came around, hoping for good news, but unfortunately, nothing new. The machine beeped at the same rhythm for a month, now. Weiss asked for the best doctors in Vale, even from Atlas, but they all said the same thing they already knew; it wasn’t sure if Yang would wake up. Taiyang and Qrow came too, sometimes. But seeing their daughter/niece like that, they couldn’t stand it long. They asked for news from Ruby weekly, but nothing new, each time. Two month, now. The doctors were slowly giving up, and sometimes the question came; maybe it was better to let it go… But the team refused, saying that she would wake up anytime, now. But slowly, the idea came around, slowly taking place. One time, when Blake was alone with her partner, she left her book on the table and took the large, cold hands in hers.

“Yang…” Blake started, feeling ridiculous to talk to someone who couldn’t talk back. “If you can hear me, I just wanted to say… I’m sorry. I wasn’t strong enough. I-”

She cleared her throat, feeling the lump forming slowly.

“If… If you don’t wake up… I’ll take care of Ruby. I’ll take care of the team. Well, I’ll try,” she laughed softly.

She breathed, squeezing the hands in hers, swallowing.

“I, uh… I’ve always thought you were too good to be true, you know?” Blake said, smiling softly. “You’re so understanding, so empathic, so selfless… You didn’t even say anything about me being a faunus, you just accepted it. You always saw me as a person that you had to protect. As a part of your family. The team is a part of your family. I just… I can’t thank you enough for teaching me that. Teaching me how to love again.”

She gently lifted the blonde’s hand to her lips, kissing it gently.

“Come back, Yang. I don’t want to lose you, too,” she murmured.

She stared hopefully at the blonde’s face, but her eyes remained closed, her breathing even, the beeping sound staying the same. Blake sighed, leaning her elbows on the bed, rubbing her forehead against the cool skin of the brawler’s hand, when she felt a presence beside her. Before she could raise her head, a small, warm hand rubbed her back for a moment.

“She is indeed the best of us,” Weiss murmured before pulling a chair to sit close to the faunus.

Blake straightened her back, still holding Yang’s hand in hers.

“I should have been stronger,” she whispered, thumbing the brawler’s knuckles.

“It wasn’t your fault, Blake,” Weiss said back, her eyebrows furrowed. “It’s none of us’ fault.”

 “Still, it wasn’t supposed to happen,” Blake argued.

“We did what we could at the time. Let’s just try that it doesn’t happen again,” the heiress said softly, smoothing the covers of the bed.

Blake looked at Weiss, and again, her face was unreadable. Whatever mask Weiss was wearing, it worked wonders, but Blake knew better. She could see the blue trails of veins, appearing on her forehead. The small wrinkle between her eyebrows. How tense her jaw was. Blake inched closer and slid an arm around the smaller girl’s waist, holding her gently. Weiss shifted a little so her head rested on the crook of Blake’s shoulder, but kept it lowered, her bangs hiding her face, her small, pale hands balling into fists.

“You know,” the heiress spoke quietly, “I always thought that nothing could bring her down. She’s so strong, even a rocket launcher couldn’t scratch her.”

Blake chuckled softly, leaving the brawler’s hand to take Weiss’s, and the white-haired woman entwined their fingers instantly.

“She’s so strong, even her presence is,” she continued, she voice tinier, shaking. “Everywhere I would go, there’s always her voice, loud, in the background somewhere. She enters a room and you know it without even looking, you know what I mean?”

Blake huffed and nodded, pulling her closer.

“Always smiling, always laughing. Always loving, always caring. God, she is so _alive_ , so strong, as a person.”

She sighed, trembling, and Blake felt a tear drop on her hand.

“She’s so strong, there is no way simple Grimm can hurt her, I always thought. I’m so stupid,” she murmured.

Blake shifted in her seat, wrapping her arms around the heiress and pulling her closer, nuzzling her hair.

“Hey now, don’t say that. We all thought that, Weiss,” she murmured, kissing her head softly.

She could feel Weiss’s hands clutching her shirt on her back, feel her breath on her neck, shaking.

“I don’t know what to do, Blake,” she breathed. “I’ve never felt so useless in my life, but even if I want to help, there’s nothing I can do! I can’t stand seeing her like this…”

“I know, Weiss,” Blake murmured. “I know.”

“Can I have a hug too?”

The monochrome pair looked up at the door in unison, Ruby clutching her books against her chest tightly, her eyes filled with tears. Weiss extended her hand and the leader took it, the heiress pulling her in their arms, Ruby holding them close.

 

****

 

Weiss was standing in front of the window, looking outside silently. It’s been three months, now, and she had an argument with Ruby about Yang. The biggest she had with her leader, leading both of them in tears. Maybe it was time to let go, she thought. But Ruby strongly protested, refusing to lose hope. The heiress didn’t know what to say, what to do. Yang had lost so much weight, she was so pale, she looked like she was already dead, dead inside, caught in a body living with the help of machines. Ruby had stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her with more force than necessary, and Weiss had cried at Yang’s side for a good twenty minutes. Weiss sighed and closed her eyes, listening to the calming, steady beeps of Yang’s heart. Three months. Three months, and Yang’s condition hadn’t improved in the slightest. She tried to imagine if her, Blake or Ruby was at Yang’s place, what the blonde would say after three months. But she shook her head, because the blonde would have the same faith Ruby has. She felt her eyes prickle again and she rubbed her hands across her face, blinking furiously the tears away. Now was not the time to cry, she told herself. But she didn’t know what to do. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes again, focusing on the rhythm of Yang’s heart… Until she noticed that it was beating at a quicker pace. She frowned and turned on her heels, walking slowly to the bed, looking at the monitor. The beat had indeed increased, and Weiss looked with renewed hope at Yang, seeing some color on the blonde’s cheeks.  She sat in a chair, gasping softly, and hurriedly fished her scroll in her purse, realising her hands were shaking too much to send a text, so she tapped on the screen to call Ruby, putting the device to her ear. While she waited for Ruby to answer, she gently took the blonde’s hand in hers.

"Ruby! I think… I think Yang is…"

Weiss saw the blonde frowning, and the large hands starting to twitch.

"She what?" Pressed her leader, worried.

"I think she’s waking up," the heiress murmured, squeezing Yang’s hand.

The tone in her ear indicated that the brunette hung up, and she quickly called Blake. The faunus was in the training room, not so far from Yang’s room, and Weiss heard a rapid footfall coming in the hallway, realising it was Blake running to the room. The faunus stopped at the doorframe, clutching at her shirt, her bangs sticking on her forehead. Amber eyes glanced at Weiss, then looked at Yang, who was shifting, huffing and twitching slightly. Blake didn’t even made two steps in the room when a gust of wind with swirling rose petals entered the room, Ruby stopping at the end of the bed. Silver eyes gazed at her sister, filling with tears as she walked to the bed and took her hand, holding it tightly. Yang’s twitching stopped, instead her eyelids opened lazily, blinking a few times, making the three women gasp. Tired lilac eyes looked around the room, then to each faces around her, smiling softly. She opened her mouth to talk, but she coughed, Ruby hastily taking a half-filled glass of water on the table and leaned it on her sister’s lips, the blonde sipping slowly with a grunt. When she finished, Ruby set the glass on the table, and the blonde cleared her throat.

“It’s nice to see you’re all fine, guys,” she said in a raspy, hoarse voice.

Blake’s sob caught in her throat as she pressed the back of her hand against her lips, Weiss smiling even if tears were rolling down her cheeks, squeezing the blonde’s hand, and Ruby started crying loudly, burying her face in her sister’s stomach. The blonde hissed in pain, but still petted her hair, frowning. But a small smile pulled her cracked lips.

“Didn’t think I would’ve died, now, did you?”

That only made Blake cry openly, climbing in the bed and hugging her partner while Ruby did the same. Weiss finally climbed too, clutching at the hand she was still holding.

“We feared you wouldn’t wake up,” Ruby cried in her sister’s shoulder. “You were hurt so badly…”

The blonde furrowed her eyebrows, slowly grasping the situation.

“I was out for how long?”

“Three months,” Blake answered, rubbing her face against the covers.

Yang raised her eyebrows, leaning back on her pillows.

“Three months, huh?” She murmured to herself.

Weiss suddenly straightened herself on her elbow, catching Yang’s chin between her fingers and looked her dead in the eye.

“You listen to me, Xiao Long. Don’t _ever_ do that again,” Weiss ordered, her features sharp and hard even with the tear trails, pointing her index finger at her to make herself clear. “Is that understood?”

Yang’s lopsided smile was still the same, affection filling her eyes as she looked back in icy-blue eyes, squeezing the heiress’s hand gently.

“Crystal,” the blonde murmured.

“Yeah, Weiss, tell her,” sobbed Ruby somewhere in the crook of Yang’s neck.

The heiress nodded sharply, sniffing, then lowered herself again, making herself comfortable, resting her head on the blonde’s chest. Ruby, sniffing, shifted closer, snuggling her sister. Blake, too, rested her head on the blonde’s shoulder, hiding her face in her neck, her cat ears flicking in blonde hair. Yang smiled softly, feeling tired already, and tried to hug them as hard as she could. She kissed the heads of her teammates, then lay back on her pillows, falling back to sleep slowly.

“I’m really sorry if I’ve scared you, guys. But let me tell you; I’m not going anywhere.”

The three women only nodded, and they all fell asleep with the blonde slowly, the beeping sound of Yang’s heart, strong, reassuring, _alive_.


End file.
